NewCITY-Mile Dessau-Roßlau

Project content

With the NewCITY-Mile Dessau-Roßlau (NeuSTADT-Meile Dessau-Roßlau) project, the city of Dessau-Roßlau is bundling a range of diverse measures to tackle structural change in the area. These include the preparation of various feasibility studies on key municipal properties, the establishment of development-steering institutions such as the NewCITY agency, the temporary rental and revitalization of unused spaces and investments to refurbish vacant facilities for cultural activities, for example. In addition, there are extensive marketing and public relations measures.

The project is funded by the federal program for sustainable inner cities and centres (Zukunftsfähige Innenstädte und Zentren (ZIZ)) of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB). The funding offers the city the opportunity to meet its challenges with concrete and innovative measures and to set positive development impulses.

The structural change in the city of Dessau-Roßlau is evident in various places. The decline in the retail landscape and the resulting store vacancies in the city center not only affect the attractiveness of the shopping and visitor experience, but also the quality of local economic and social life. There is a risk of a self-reinforcing process of increasing “desolation”. Against this backdrop, the city is pursuing various strategies to counteract the negative effects of the ongoing structural change and to implement innovative approaches to revitalize and upgrade the city centre.

Goals

With the NewCITY-Mile project, the city of Dessau-Roßlau aims to identify and harness existing potential. For example, vacant spaces are to be developed into new places for cultural encounters and valuable impulses are to form the foundation for sustainable and resilient inner city development. The project aims to find new uses for vacant spaces, increase the quality of life in the project area through greening and design measures, bring people with ideas and creators to the project area, counteract desolation and promote the overall perception and appeal of Dessau’s city centre in the region.

Tasks of aconium GmbH

On behalf of the city of Dessau-Roßlau, aconium is responsible for the overall project management for the implementation of the funding program. This includes coordinating the stakeholders involved, project and funding management, including monitoring and reporting on progress. In addition to the technical project implementation, aconium GmbH also supports the individual project sponsors in the technical implementation of the various urban development measures of the NewCITY-Mile.